Ilya Petoushkoff

Welcome to the world of SOR buses!

- we need to decorate our cafe

- sure thing, how about a plastic croissant cut in the shape of a dog's head with a tree growing right from within it

- say nothing more

Note: three is great, four is meh. (I believe Praha is the only city in the world where four doors on a 12m bus and five on a 18m one are commonplace).

Melbourne rail map showing only West Footscray to Dandenong, and Flinders Street to Southern Cross with services every 15 minutes or better, every day 7am-midnight. Annual patronage (2024-25) 187.4 million.

Sydney rail map showing lines T1, T2, T4 (most but not all stations), T6, T8, T9 and M1 lines with services every 15 minutes or better, every day 7am-midnight. Annual patronage (2024-25) 354.6 million.

Melbourne's only got one major rail line with frequent service all day every day. Sydney has seven.
Frequent services get more people on board public transport more often.

I'm sure it'll be great!

Greek railway network is fascinating in the sense that unlike almost anywhere else in Europe it is pretty extensive yet doesn't go to a lot of places and doesn't seem to create too many direct and fast connections.

(Note: I have an extremely limited knowledge of Greece!)

Congratulations!
Just ordered a copy!

and that is notwithstanding the aperitivo that is to follow

US and Canadian academics when they see the catering of an Italian or French conference.

The incredible Chelsea station and the lovely pedestrian plaza by it.

Built in 2021, this whole complex was clearly designed with the purpose of ensuring that walking to the trains is a path full of as many physical barriers and as much human suffering as possible.

this is what they said it would be like under socialism

there must be some combination of issues in between the technology aspects, procurement policies, and cost optimisation strategies that together lead to this on a systemic level

and only if you have two left feet

I am not sure many people in Australia understand how vital that tiny paperback book might one day be, and how doubly so it might be having more than one.

The big news headline in Australia these days is that Australians with UK citizenship must now obtain and use UK passport to be able to enter the UK.

Watching people on the internet complaining about having to get a passport is absolutely wild.

216 is a good bus; however, I can't help from pointing out that Australian standards of 'bus full' threshold are a little too relaxed and may likely lead to unreasonably denied boarding.

This is nice!
May I ask, how do you make efficient use of such a space, which is inevitable in non-rectangular layouts?

Wasn't that Brisbane?

If the idea is to let the trains run directly between Melbourne and Brisbane (which is a bit of a stretch IMO, but I still can see how e.g.Newcastle to Melbourne makes sense as a trip), going through Central is a big detour that seems unnecessary.
Central and Parramatta is a strong local connection.

Why HSR needs to be tunnelled all the way from Hornsby to Central and then from Central to Parramatta, is a very good question both in terms of finding space (these corridors exist already, although conventional) and in terms of route directness.

Given what's on top of where the tunnelled motorways go in Sydney, I'd think of its system of motorway tunnels as a better alternative to what could have been.

Whether these motorways were necessary is a good question, but having them at-grade / elevated would've had parts of Sydney torn down.

can't dream from a fee perspective

The question of what happens with the current line after it does is also a very good one I do not have an immediate answer to.

I do not have instant answers to these questions, I'm afraid! There are many ways of doing this.

What I was referring to was what I believe needs to happen between now and when HSR comes in.

I am a much more firm believer into this concept every time I need to fly to Sydney on a reasonably short notice and the flights are $700 for a return trip.

I firmly believe that two cities, around 6m people each, approx.900 km apart, generate enough travel demand to always fill up a few of 10-car sleeper train departures every night, for which even the current travel time is alright.

For the daily trains, the same cars should transform to seaters.

'The product of the railways is the timetable.'—Benedict Springbett.

Based on the purpose, which defines the 'why', we should find a way towards 'how'. That 'how' starts with a service concept, one that meets the purpose, and then goes down into the technical requirements.

In terms of trains, what we need to do is define the purpose for this service and what it is supposed to be doing. I don't think anyone has articulated this well enough.
Modernisation without the clear sense of purpose, without a clear answer as to 'why' would be a much less rewarding endeavour.

On faster, there's been suggestions that with a reasonable amount of straightening up the current line can offer much more reasonable travel times.
There's no reason to not explore interim infrastructure upgrades in more detail, and I'm certain that this just needs to be done to some extent.

Despite all its retro flavour (and all the flaws that come along with it), XPT is always fully booked. No-one seems to be paying attention.
It really should be a proper modern intercity train service, including a proper daily overnight sleeper offering with ample capacity.